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Friday, February 4, 2011

What is Creative Non-Fiction?

There are still spaces available in the upcoming Online Creative Non-Fiction Revision Workshop. The class will run for two weeks (Monday, February 14 – Friday, February 25.) Click here for a full course description.

Although it sounds a bit affected and presumptuous, “creative nonfiction” precisely describes what the form is all about. The word “creative” refers simply to the use of literary craft in presenting nonfiction—that is, factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid manner. To put it another way, creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and, often, more accessible.

If you are writing memoir, personal essays or researched essays that rely on traditional craft tools from fiction or poetry (narrative arc, images, etc.), then it is likely that you are writing creative non-fiction. In the upcoming Revision Workshop, we’ll be looking closely at earlier drafts and considering a variety of methods to re-enter the piece for smaller and larger revisions. See you there?

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About Me

I am a published poet and freelance writer with an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. I studied Italian language and literature at Smith College. My poetry chapbook, Unrest, is published by Finishing Line Press.
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I teach creative and composition writing online at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Northampton Community College, Thomas Edison State College and University of Maryland University College. I also work individually with adult students as a writing coach.